Escaped prisoner is captured

Update, 8 p.m.:

The prisoner who escaped from Metro transit police near theSuitland Road station has been caught.

Metro spokesman Reggie Woodruff says the prisoner was taken back into custody at 7:39 p.m.

Police did not immediately release any details on how the inmate escaped, or how authorities found him again.

Earlier:
A prisoner escaped from Metro transit police in the area of the Suitland Road station Wednesday evening, and authorities have set up a perimeter around the station as they conduct a search that includes a helicopter, a Metro spokesman said.

The prisoner escaped about 6:30 p.m., said Reggie Woodruff, the spokesman. He said he did not know what the prisoner was arrested for or how he escaped.

Woodruff said trains were still running through the station, but he was not sure how the perimeter was affecting those trying to enter and exit it.

-- Matt Zapatosky and Ann Scott Tyson